3 killer mistakes you're making with engagement

All HR leaders worth their salt know that employee engagement is the only way to ensure your organization is running smoothly.

Despite this, 36% of businesses currently see staff engagement as a top challenge, with 78% of disengaged workers actively looking for new roles. So – what exactly are you doing wrong?

We chatted to Jarik Conrad, Sr. Director, Human Capital Management (HCM) Innovation for Ultimate Software and speaker at our upcoming HR Leaders Summit, who revealed the top three mistakes you’re making when it comes to connecting with your staff.

Making assumptions
“We make assumptions about who we are and what our motivations are, based on very limited evidence,” prefaced Jarik.

“Many of those assumptions are driven by emotion rather than science. This is where tools can help us reduce some biases and tamper down those human emotions in order to make more data-based assessments about people at an individual level. We make assumptions around what exactly is motivating groups of people and individuals when trying to engage them.”

Taking shortcuts
People want the answers, but they don’t want to go through the journey to get there – according to Jarik.

“We take a lot of shortcuts. When you’re dealing with people and relationships, you have to invest the time to build those relationships and connections in order to understand people and understand yourself. Before we can start doing things, and making recommendations, you need to invest that time on the front end. For example, often times when I’m speaking on stage about ‘big picture issues’ someone in the audience will speak up and say ‘well, what exactly is the answer?’

“The truth is, the answer is going to be different for different organizations – and it will be different for different individuals.”

Missing self-reflection
“Organizational leaders need to understand their employees – but I don’t know if these leaders are doing enough today to help employees understand themselves,” added Jarik.

“We forget that our workers go through a maturation process, they have to figure out who they are and what their purpose is. Sometimes, we just assume people know that innately – and we don’t enable them to go on their own self-reflective journey. Once they’ve realized who they are, employees can be upfront with their managers about what exactly they need.”

Don’t forget to book your ticket to our upcoming HR Leaders Summit in Toronto. Find out more here.